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Zynga continues expansion into mid-core market, acquires A Bit Lucky

Today, Zynga announced it has acquired social game developer A Bit Lucky for an undisclosed amount, proving our April prediction right.

A Bit Lucky is the developer behind games like Lucky Train and Lucky Space, which were shut down on Facebook last week while the studio continued to work on its new multiplatform title Solstice Arena. In a phone call with Zynga GM Bill Jackson and A Bit Lucky’s founders Frederic Descamps and Jordan Maynard, it was confirmed that all of A Bit Lucky’s employees will become a part of Zynga San Francisco. The studio’s workforce is in the process of moving over to Zynga’s headquarters today and should be back at work tomorrow, continuing development on Solstice Arena.

Jackson tells us the acquisition marks another step for Zynga as it continues to expand into the mid-core market, a scene that the developer has struggled to be a presence in during the past. According to Jackson, mid-core titles offer “rich deep gameplay experiences that would traditionally be associated with core gamers,” but are simplified and include social mechanics to appeal to a wider range of casual players.

Recently, the company has been stepping up its efforts. At Casual Connect, we heard about how the company was shopping around to pick up a mid-core developer. Following that, Zynga announced it partnered with Eruptive Games to publish Citizen Grim on both Facebook and Zynga.com. Meanwhile, Zynga’s continued to make some high-profile hires like John Tobias, co-creator of the Mortal Kombat game franchise.

Details on Solstice Arena have been kept vague up to this point, and nothing about the game was announced during our phone call, but Descamps and Maynard tell us we can expect to learn more about the title in the near future.